The present invention involves the ejection of ink drops by way of forming gas or vapor bubbles in a bubble forming liquid. This principle is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,120 (Stemme). Each pixel in the printed image is derived ink drops ejected from one or more ink nozzles. In recent years, inkjet printing has become increasing popular primarily due to its inexpensive and versatile nature. Many different aspects and techniques for inkjet printing are described in detail in the above cross referenced documents.
Completely immersing the heater element in ink dramatically improves the printhead efficiency. Much less heat dissipates into the underlying wafer substrate so more of the input energy is used to generate the bubble that ejects the ink.
A convenient way of suspending the heater element is to deposit it on sacrificial photoresist that is subsequently removed by a release etch. The sacrificial material (SAC) is deposited into a pit or trench etched into the substrate adjacent the electrodes. However, it is difficult to precisely match the mask with the sides of the pit. Usually, when the masked photoresist is exposed, gaps form between the sides of the pit and the SAC. When the heater material layer is deposited, it fills these gaps to form ‘stringers’ (as they are known). The stringers remain in the pit after the metal etch (that shapes the heater element) and the release etch (to finally remove the SAC). The stringers can short circuit the heater so that it fails to generate a bubble.
By making the mask bigger than the trench, the SAC will be deposited over the side walls so that no gaps form. Unfortunately, this produces a raised lip around top of the trench. When the heater material layer is deposited, it is thinner on the vertical or inclined surfaces of the lip. After the metal etch and release etch, these thin lip formations remain and cause ‘hotspots’ because the localized thinning increases resistance. These hotspots affect the operation of the heater and typically reduce heater life.